Jiangshan Fengwuzhi

Chapter 258 Settling down
Ma Shi slowly walked up to Ying Yao, reached out as if to pat her shoulder, but hesitated. In the end, he just rubbed his hands together and gave a somewhat embarrassed yet extremely joyful smile.

"Good child, I'm so glad to see you again."

Yingyao burst into tears, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand, but the tears kept falling.

Overwhelmed with guilt, she said, "Sir, I'm so sorry. You raised me for so long, but since we parted, I've only thought about the young master and haven't come to find you..."

"Silly child, I'm relieved to see you're alright."

Ma Shi smiled so hard his face wrinkled up. Seeing Ying Yao crying, his eyes stung, and he quickly rubbed them.

Then, not daring to indulge in joy, he quickly knelt down in front of the Realm Lord and kowtowed twice forcefully.

"The Lord of the Realm is so kind; this old servant and Yingyao will repay him even if it means going through fire and water!"

As he spoke, Master Ma tugged at Ying's sleeve, urging her to express her gratitude as well.

The Realm Lord raised his hand and said, "You may go through fire and water, but she is already a member of the Realm. Just fulfill her duties. There is no need to mention repaying her. Members of the Realm should treat each other as equals."

"Yes, yes!" Master Ma was overjoyed.

"You've been in this realm for half a year now, so you should take her to choose a realm."

"Yes." Ma Shi kowtowed forcefully again.

The Realm Lord then said to Ying, "Come here."

Yingyao stepped forward, and the Realm Lord placed his hand on her head, saying, "I will teach you the art of teleportation, which allows you to travel to various realms, but from now on you must not leave this realm."

"Wait a minute." Yingyao quickly ducked her head to avoid him and asked, "Could I help you bring your sister here first?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Have you forgotten what you promised me?" The Realm Lord remained patient, but his tone had become serious. He said, "Become a Realm Citizen, guard the Seven Star Array, and have no more attachment to the mortal world."

"but I……"

Yingyao was still half-squatting when the Realm Lord's hand was already on her head.

Her body disappeared for a moment and then reappeared.

Gu Jingnian watched from the side and knew that Yingyao had already acquired the Shadow Transmission Technique. In the past, he had seen others who wanted to obtain a certain superpower by raising serpents and exchanging blood, but he never expected that there would be someone who could transfer superpowers so easily. This Realm Lord truly deserves to be the strongest person in Zhongzhou.

Just as he was thinking this, the Realm Lord took out a red pill that looked very familiar to him and handed it to Yingyao.

“You have a natural talent for teleportation, which I have already activated for you, and you have also taken this pill.”

Ying took it with both hands, still a little hesitant, but Ma Shi urged her on.

She then swallowed the pill.

The Realm Lord said, "From now on, you may never leave the Realm again, otherwise this pill will imprison all your supernatural abilities."

"you……"

"We agreed that."

"That young master..."

"If he wishes to stay, he may live in your territory forever; if he wishes to leave, he must depart within two days."

Before Yingyao could speak further, the Realm Lord waved his hand.

"Go."

The scenery before them changed again; the swirling snow disappeared, and they returned to the stone steps.

This time, Old Womin and Shougu were also present.

"Have you thought it through? What kind of realm are you planning to seek?" Old Womin asked Yingyao with a kind expression.

"I don't know," Ying shook her head. "What does that mean?"

"Simply put, it's about settling down and having a home," Old Womin said with a smile. "There are only seven World People, but they can create many Worlds, and each World is a world in itself."

Ying shook her head and said, "But I can't create worlds."

"I see." Old Womin stroked his beard and pondered for a moment, then said, "We all come from Woye. Why don't you settle down in a Woye-like realm that I created?"

"How can that be? I have already received so much kindness from you, senior, and have yet to repay it."

“It’s alright. I’ve lived for so many years, it’s my duty to help newcomers, especially since we’re from the same hometown,” Old Womin said. “Don’t worry, now that I’ve given it to you, I won’t bother you again.”

Yingyao quickly said, "That's not what I meant."

After saying a few words, she couldn't refuse and had to accept Old Womin's kindness.

"Do you still have the wooden talisman I gave you last time?"

"exist."

“Then you can enter the realm by holding the wooden talisman and using the Shadow Transmission Technique,” ​​said the old man. “I have nothing to do, so I plan to cultivate another fertile field. I’m off now.”

With that, he smiled nonchalantly, led Shougu around a piece of firewood that appeared out of nowhere, and disappeared.

Ying Yao, still in a daze, followed the old man's instructions, holding a wooden talisman and using the technique of teleportation. In a short while, a palace and stone steps appeared before everyone's eyes.

Stepping over the stone steps and into the palace, Yingyao looked around, confirming that this was the residence of the Womin she had visited before. "Did he really give this place to me?"

Gu Jingnian pondered for a moment and said, "He must be worried that Liu Yuchuan will come back here and refine him, so he hid in another realm?"

Yingyao suddenly realized what was going on and asked, "So, are we still staying here?"

Master Ma said, "Of course I'll stay here."

"why?"

Master Ma was somewhat excited and said, "You guys fly up and take a look."

"it is good."

Yingyao then helped Ma Shi up, and together with Gu Jingnian, they spread their wings and flew into the sky.

Looking around, they saw that the world outside the palace was vast, and all kinds of fruit trees were planted around the palace, but the fruit on them had already been picked.

In the orchards, one can still vaguely see busy farmers.

They flew for a very long time before they finally saw the end of the orchard, with villages nestled beside streams—the homes of fruit farmers—adjacent to fertile fields and mulberry and hemp groves.

Flying further afield, you'll find grasslands, pastures, and beautiful mountains and lakes.

Master Ma was delighted by the sight and said, “Let’s go back. This place is a world unto itself. We have been flying for many days and have not found the end. But those fruit trees have lived for thousands of years and have absorbed the spiritual energy of this place. The fruits they grow are most helpful for cultivating supernatural abilities. You will greatly benefit from becoming the master of this place. If you abandon this place to avoid Liu Yuchuan, it will be a loss.”

Gu Jingnian shared this opinion. Liu Yuchuan wanted to refine Womin, and wasn't very interested in Yingyao; otherwise, he would have done so long ago. Besides, they were now working for Zi Cang, just like Liu Yuchuan.

Master Ma was very satisfied with this place and called it "Little Fertile Land". After it was settled, he began to plan for Yingyao.

For example, he could expand the palace and make room for everyone, but he himself did not intend to live in the palace and disturb these young people. Instead, he planned to open up a medicinal garden in the wilderness, where planting herbs would also enhance Yingyao's strength.

Upon hearing this, Gu Jingnian asked, "How can we improve it?"

"This..." Master Ma hesitated slightly, but still said, "We can raise some strange... strange beasts to refine pills. That's how it's done in the world, just like raising pigs and chickens."

After saying that, he was very worried that Gu Jingnian would turn against him.

Surprisingly, Gu Jingnian didn't say anything, but turned to Yan Da and A Meng and asked, "What about you? Do you want to stay here?"

Yan Da and A Meng nodded repeatedly.

Seeing this, Gu Jingnian was somewhat surprised and asked, "Are you sure?"

Yan hesitated for a moment and asked, "Is there enough to eat here?"

“Of course,” Master Ma said. “The fields planted throughout the entire land can supply the master with food and drink; there’s no end to it.”

“Then we’ll stay!” Yan Da said immediately.

Ah Meng, being more cautious, asked again, "Do you want us to do very, very tiring work?"

Master Ma smiled, shook his head, and said, "Young Master Gu said he would lead us to Woye. This is Little Woye, a paradise on earth."

“Then we’ll stay!” A-Meng said hastily.

Gu Jingnian said, "Don't you want to go back to find Fengniang?"

“Following Fengniang, we’re never full, and we have to perform acrobatics,” A-Meng said. “Without the two of us, Fengniang will have one less thing to worry about.”

Yan Da nodded repeatedly and said, "That's right."

Gu Jingnian felt that what they said made sense, so he didn't say anything more.

Hu Jingnan said, "Why didn't you ask me if I was staying?"

"Has Miss Hu already severed ties with worldly affairs?"

Hu Jingnan shook her head, indicating that she was leaving.

Afterwards, she and Gu Jingnian exchanged a knowing glance, for she knew that Gu Jingnian was also leaving.

Seeing this, Yingyao couldn't help but tug at Gu Jingnian's sleeve again.

"Young master, are you leaving? Did I say something wrong?"

"Hmm?" Gu Jingnian asked in confusion, "When did you say something wrong?"

"When I saw you earlier, I said..."

Yingyao had been annoyed that she had only thought about Gu Jingnian and hadn't gone to see Ma Shi before, but as soon as she said it, she realized that something was wrong and was afraid that Gu Jingnian would mind.

"Anyway, I just said the wrong thing." Yingyao said angrily, "It was better before when we were closely connected. I never had to worry about what to say or not to say. Now it's different."

"It's alright." Gu Jingnian smiled and said gently, "That's how people build relationships. Relying solely on emotional connection is just being lazy."

Yingyao asked, "So, young master, are you still going to leave?"

"Ah."

Yingyao said anxiously, "But if that happens, when will we be able to see each other again?"

Gu Jingnian knew that this was not a place he could come to whenever he wanted. He had long been prepared to never see Yingyao again in this life, but when he saw her eyes, he sighed slightly and said, "If we want to see each other again, there is still another way."

(End of this chapter)